I noticed an article in the March 12th Dallas Morning News about the private social network “Nextdoor” and how it promotes neighborhood security and provides community based information to Dallas neighborhoods. The article reported on a recent home invasion (not in Bryan Place) where the Nextdoor service was helpful in alerting the local community of the security threat and promoting additional community vigilance.
After some initial research on the internet, I registered as a member on their website at www.nextdoor.com (there is also a free app for your smart phone if you want). I quickly learned that many of my neighbors were already on the system (over 150 members in Bryan Place). The site assigns members into a geographically defined neighborhood (for us that would be Bryan Place). Only neighborhood residents can access the “Nextdoor – Bryan Place” site, although I noticed that they do provide some information from surrounding neighborhoods, which surrounding neighborhoods to be included on your service can be controlled through the network.
The Dallas Police Department promotes the network as a digital neighborhood watch service and provides periodic notices and alerts for local crime concerns. A recent post by the DPD notified residents of an increase in automobile thefts of unattended vehicles left running to “warm up.” The DPD went out of their way to make the point that all crime and suspicious activity should still be reported through their 911 system and that this network is for informational purposes only. I noticed informational notices from the Dallas Sanitation Services, Dallas Animal Services and DART concerning planned service changes, news and special events. The site also provides opportunities to network with neighbors for social and community projects. Other categories of information provided include: classifieds, lost and found, recommendations and free items.
Privacy is always a concern for online services, so I was pleased to learn that they provide the following assurances to their members:
- Every member has to verify their address and use their real name (I do not know how they do this)
- Information on the website is encrypted and usage is password protected
- Nextdoor does not share info with advertisers
- Information shared on the site is not available to Google or other search engines
- Only registered members can access the posts for their specific neighborhood
I will continue to monitor the site for local security issues and would appreciate any feedback or suggestions you might have at security@bryanplace.org.